Sold-out home or on the road, Holdzkom holds own

The announced crowd for Monday night’s series opener at Turner Field was 20,252, but with the Braves having fallen out of contention, no-shows lowered the number of occupied seats to considerably fewer. Which gave Pirates manager Clint Hurdle yet another reason to explain the refreshing success of John Holdzkom, the independent ball refuge who had his eighth scoreless appearance in the 1-0 victory.